Pinky Sweets Candy Shoppe will open Saturday inside Windsor Village on

Stevens Street. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Pinky Sweets Candy Shoppe is opening on Saturday inside Windsor Village, by the mother/daughter team of Mary Jo Pinkert and Laura Kociolowicz.

The pair plan to offer old-fashioned candy, retro chocolate and candy of today, including salt water taffy, candy sticks, licorices, taffy bars and novelty candies. They will also allow customers to create their own DIY candy baskets by filling the baskets with their favorite candies. Wrapping and ribbon will be included free of charge.

"We've always had a dream of a neighborhood candy store," Kociolowicz said today by phone. "When I was younger, I remember there was a candy shop that I used to go into ... and get a piece of bubble gum or a couple pieces of candy."

Now she hopes to pass on that memory for a new generation of candy lovers ... maybe with her personal favorite candy -- Astro Pops.

Pinkert said, ""We are going to keep updating monthly ... with like a new candy bar, new product."

Kociolowicz said she's looking forward to working with her mother. "My mother is like my best friend ... and we're very close. We talk all day long."

The pair are renting out a 300-square-foot space inside Windsor Village, 43 Stevens St. Pinkert said that will keep their overhead low, "so we're able to pass those savings on to the customer."

Windsor Village owner Kathy O'Keefe said the candy shop is a perfect fit for her store. "I think it brings home a lot of good feelings. I always felt like that was an imporant need here at the property that we have a candy shop."

O'Keefe is still looking for two more business owners to join into her Windsor Village concept.

Pinkert and Kociolowicz are fans. "She's a blessing," Kociolowicz said of O'Keefe. "She's helped us out a lot."

Pinky Sweets Candy Shoppe will be open from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday. The shop's first 20 customers during Saturday's grand opening will receive a candy treat bag.